Trump bets on immigration for his re-election
NEW YORK — From the biggest stage in U.S. politics, President Donald Trump made clear that on the defining issue of his presidency — immigration — he cannot or will not change his hard-line approach heading into 2020.
Yet the Republican president drew a new frame around his Democratic opposition, warning in his second State of the Union address that the rise of socialism on the left threatens the nation’s core values.
Tuesday’s speech was not the opening salvo of the 2020 election. That debate began almost immediately after his 2016 victory. But Trump’s prime-time address offered the clearest roadmap to date about his re-election message and how he plans to address cultural and demographic shifts that have clouded the political battlefield.
The first-term president is betting four more years that his aggressive argument — against socialism and illegal immigration — will ultimately preserve his coalition of white working-class men across the industrial Midwest. The group, perhaps more than any other, fueled his razor-thin victory in 2016.
It’s far from clear, however, whether the approach will do enough to repair his strained relationship with women, who left the GOP in droves last fall in a suburban revolt that gave Democrats the House majority.
Tuesday marked a key moment in the early 2020 debate that highlights the struggle for both major political parties to coalesce behind an effective message as the next presidential election season gets underway.
Trump, in particular, needs to improve his political standing if he hopes to win reelection. He opens the election season as one of the weakest first-term presidents on record.